The Living Situation
by Gleefully Wicked
Summary: When Rachel's dads decide to take an extended vacation without her, the only place for her to stay is with her mother, Shelby. When their lives begin to clash will the two of them manage to get along? Rated for SC and language. Shell and Finchel.
1. The Living Situation

**Author's note:**

**I know I should really be working on my other stories right now but this story has been begging me to be published for a few weeks now(yes my stories have minds of their own). And I figured that I should try to finish it before the real Shelby storyline begins in September when season three begins. This is going to alternate between Rachel's POV and Shelby's. Anyways this is Finchel, Shell, Quick, Brittana, and Samcedes. Along with a little bit of Kurt independence because I don't particularly like Klaine. **

_**Rachel**_

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Or simply didn't want to believe what I was hearing. I had to be hallucinating or something. Though I hadn't hallucinated since I had been hopped up on whatever Dr. Carl had given me at the dentist. So this had to be real and I was, for lack of a better, more mature word, PISSED!

"You're leaving me?" I asked my dads in disbelief. We had been having a completely uneventful dinner together when they'd dropped the bombshell on me.

"I wouldn't put it as leaving you, honey." my dad, Hiram said in the most calming tone possible. However, it wasn't going to work on me.

"Then what would you call going to Europe for six months WITHOUT me?" I asked in my overly dramatic tone.

"Rachel, we love you, but we haven't left Lima for more than a week since you were born. And we figured that since you have Glee club and Finn-" my dad, Leroy was trying to justify their actions further but I cut him off.

"You think that because I finally have friends and a boyfriend that I don't need you?" I asked loudly. "Well forgive me, Dads but you are mistaken!" I continued. "Why can't I just come with you?" I asked. I had nothing against Europe. I always wanted to see a show on West End.

"Sweetheart, you can't miss six months of school in your senior year." My dad Hiram said.

"You'd never graduate on time." my dad Leroy added.

"Then why can't you wait till next summer to go?" I asked.

"we already bought our tickets. They're nonrefundable." Leroy explained. I couldn't take much more of this.

"And where exactly am I going to live while you guys are gallivanting across Europe?" I asked. I knew they wouldn't leave me here alone(especially not after they'd come home from their last vacation to find all of their alcohol drank and replaced with cheap substitutes(damn, Noah).

"With your mother. She's moving back." My dad Hiram admitted and then braced himself for my imminent freak out. I hadn't seen my mother in over a year and I'd only awkwardly chatted with her on Facebook a few times. Living with her was definitely not something I would choose for myself. Especially since she had chose to adopt Quinn Fabray's(one of my tormentors since freshman year)baby.

"And you waited until two weeks before your trip to tell me because...?" I asked. Both of my dads looked down at the table.

"We knew that you would take it badly." Hiram said quietly.

"Badly? HA!" I think I lost it. I don't remember ever freaking out on my dads like this before(well there was that time when they got me a Barbie for my sixth birthday instead of a stage recording of Into The Woods...)"No if I was reacting badly I would have stormed out by now! I'm FUCKING PISSED OFF!" I screamed. My dads were speechless. I never swore and I was never this angry. I couldn't take this anymore. I got up from the table and stormed out the front door.

Luckily it was still August so I didn't have to grab a jacket. My dads didn't attempt to stop me(which was probably a good idea on their part). I knew where I was going. I ignored my car(I wouldn't need it) and began fast-walking down the street. Finn's new house was only three blocks from mine so I would be there in a matter of minutes. In the mean time I finally broke down into tears.

I figured it would be more polite to call him first but my emotions were going crazy so I ignored my phone and knocked on Finn's door unannounced. His step-dad, Burt was the one who answered. He saw my face and yelled towards the staircase,"Finn, Rachel's here!" I could hear Finn's footsteps on the floor and then he appeared at the top of the staircase. He too saw my tearstained face and got a concerned look on his face.

"Burt, we'll be in my room." He said and motioned for me to come upstairs with him. I made it halfway up the stairs before Burt called,

"No funny business, you two." a small smile spread across my face. Burt knew that I was always on my best behavior. It was Finn he was adressing.

"Burt!" Finn said in embarrassment. Then the two of us made our way down the hall to Finn's room in this house was far bigger than his room at his old house. It was big enough to hold a king sized bed, a decent sized dresser, some workout equipment, a leather loveseat, and a 24" TV complete with Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Finn's old room could barely fit his bed. "Ok now tell me what's wrong." Finn said as he sat down on the loveseat. I sighed and sat next to him. He wrapped his arm around me.

"My dads are going to Europe for six months without me." I said. I might as well not beat around the bush.

"That sucks." he said. I could tell he didn't know what else to say. We both stayed silent for a few minutes. "So where are you going to stay?" Finn asked.

"With my mother." I replied. The more I said it the worse it sounded to me.

_**Shelby**_

I looked down at my phone for probably the hundredth time. I was expecting a text or a phone call that would make me get back to my apartment. My baby, Beth had the flu and where was I? At a bar while she was in the hands of some eighteen year old. I didn't really want to be away from Beth but I felt as though I should probably be at this event. I had been a choreographer for a new Broadway show for the past three months. It was titled, "CrossRhodes: The April Rhodes story" and tonight was it's last show.

I had known from the start that the show was going to be a bust but, Miss. April Rhodes pays well and I didn't plan on staying in New York for very long. I was surprised that the show lasted as long as it final show had ended an hour before and our star was already completely wasted(that wasn't new).

"Hey Shelby! Join the party!" April called over to me. I pointed to my phone as if I were expecting a call."For once, just loosen up!" April said and downed the rest of her drink. It's depressing to think that I could have ended up like her. Our pasts are very similar. We were both stars in high school and we failed to make it big time afterwards. We're also both from Ohio.

"Come on, Shell. Have one drink!" said our director. He himself looked pretty drunk.

"I would but I have to get home to my daughter." I said as I grabbed my purse and stood up from the table.

"Buzz kill!" April slurred at me as I walked out of the bar. It was only ten so I had an hour to kill before I had to actually be home. I just didn't feel like being pestered by April to drink for an hour. I was thinking about what I was going to do when my phone started buzzing. I looked at the screen and it read(to my surprise), Leroy Berry(one of my oldest daughter, Rachel's gay dads). I hit the answer button and immediately asked,

"What's wrong with Rachel?"

"What makes you think that we would only call you if there was a problem with Rachel?" Leroy asked. The way his voice sounded made me think that he was using speakerphone.

"Because If it weren't for Rachel, you wouldn't even know me. Let alone be talking to me." I said truthfully as I began walking down the street. My apartment wasn't far from the bar April had us meet at.

"We told Rachel about our trip." Hiram spoke up. Yep definitely speakerphone.

"And how did she take it?" I asked. I already had a good idea of how she might have taken it since Rachel is so similar to me. I supposed she wouldn't be too happy.

"She went ballistic!" Hiram exclaimed.

"Yeah and she cursed! Rachel hasn't cursed since she was thirteen and somebody bought her the Avenue Q CD and she memorized every song." Leroy added.

"Well I figured as much." I stated. I had known Rachel wouldn't like being abandoned by her fathers for six months. What teenager would react well to something like that? I had by then made it to my apartment building and began climbing the four flights of stairs.

"This was really bad, Shelby." Hiram said. "I have never seen her so mad." he added for emphasis.

"Well did you tell her about her living arrangements?" I asked. It was what concerned me at the moment."

Barely. She stormed out before we could explain much." Leroy said in a tired tone. I sighed in annoyance. If I was Rachel's age I would have done the same thing but that didn't make it any less irritating.

"Well she deserved to know when she was going to live for a half a year beforehand." I said. It was the truth. Sometimes I think the Berrys overprotection of Rachel isn't healthy. I heard them both sigh in annoyance. I clearly wasn't helping them at all.

"We have to go." Leroy said.

"Bye, Shelby." Hiram called and it sounded as if he were walking away from the phone.

"Ok bye. I'll see you guys in a few weeks." I said and ended the call. By this time, I had made it to my floor and unlocked the door to my apartment. The babysitter(a girl in her late teens from down the hall) was fast asleep on the couch with Beth's baby monitor next to her head. Her glasses were still on like she didn't expect to fall asleep. This was further proved by the fact that she had a Harry Potter book laying open on her chest.

I began to make my way through the maze of boxes that was my stuff. My leg accidentally bumped one of them and the babysitter awoke and sat up as if she expected someone to be robbing the place.

"Oh hey, Miss. Corcoran!" she greeted me sleepily. "Beth was an absolute angel! I gave her her medicine and she's asleep now." the babysitter added.

"That's good." I said as she collected her things into her backpack and walked over to me. I got her twenty-five dollars out of my purse and handed it to her.

"Thanks." she said and made her way to the door. I made sure she made it through the boxes ok before I opened the door to Beth's room. My baby was fast asleep in her crib. She was just as beautiful as the day I brought her home except she was slightly paler than normal due to her illness. Luckily with the antibiotics she was on, she would be better in a few days. I smiled and closed the door so I wouldn't disturb her.

She was one of the reasons why I was moving back to Lima. New York is amazing but there were lots of things on the city I didn't want my daughter around. Rachel had grown up in Lima and she turned out to be a smart and responsible girl.

_**Rachel**_

Finn rolled over so that he was on top of me. He kissed me passionately as I grabbed his left hand and put it on the side of my breast. I had a feeling he was thinking about the mailman right now. This was as far as we'd gotten before. It wasn't really clear how we had gotten to this. First I was crying on his shoulder and the next thing I know we're kissing and he's feeling me up.

We must have been caught in the moment because neither of us heard the door open. All we heard was Kurt scream,"My eyes!" Finn immediately got off of me and said, somewhat annoyed to Kurt,

"Kurt what do you want?" Kurt looked somewhat disgusted."I need to talk to you guys." he said. Finn was further agitated.

"Why didn't you knock first?" he asked.

"I did but you didn't answer. Trust me I wasn't expecting to see you on second base with Rachel." Kurt said as though Finn had been implying that he'd walked in on us on purpose.

"Well what do you want?" I asked. I was a little embarrassed that I'd been caught in this compromising situation by one of my best friends but it was better him than Burt or Carole.

"Mercedes just texted me that Quinn is throwing an end of summer party at her house for the Glee Club tonight. Do you guys want to come with?" he explained. I was a little hesitant. Quinn and I weren't on the greatest of terms and it was still awkward for Finn to be around her too much since they broke up.

"I'll go if you go." I said to Finn.

"Sure I'll go." He agreed. Kurt smiled and clapped his hands together.

"Fantastic! Rachel, come with me to my room. I have the perfect outfit for you." Kurt said happily and went back to his room(where he apparently keeps a heap of girls clothes for when I finally let him give me a makeover). I sighed and stood up. I whispered to Finn,

"I have a bad feeling about this." I heard him laugh as I left the room and went across the hall to Kurt's room.

**Good? Bad? This is only the beginning so I can introduce the basic storyline. But please review if you think I should continue.**


	2. Big Changes

**Author's note: I got quite a few reviews, follows, and favorites on the first chapter of this story so I'm continuing it. I'll also be incorporating a few of the season three spoilers into the story. Anyways, I'm not one for super long author's notes so here's the next chapter.**

_**Rachel**_

It's funny. I'd known Quinn Fabray for three years(almost two of which she spent torturing me) and I'd never knew where she lived. I always guessed that based on her personality, she lived in a big, white, four bedroom house in an upper middle class neighborhood with her WASP-y (possibly alcoholic) parents. Though apparently it was just her mom since her dad had an affair(typical).

My initial analysis proved correct as Finn parked his truck in front of a big, white, house on Dudley road. Finn seemed a little bit uncomfortable being here but that was to be expected. The three of us got out of the truck and walked up to the front door. The sounds of Katy Perry's new song, Last Friday Night could be heard from there. Before Finn could ring the doorbell, the door opened. It was Mercedes.

"About time you guys showed up!" she said as we stepped into the house.

"Sorry we're late, Mercedes. I had to pick out a decent outfit for Rachel to wear." Kurt apologized. Mercedes got a good look at what I was wearing(a yellow baby doll dress and white flip-flops).

"Nice job. It's definitely a step up from reindeer sweaters." Mercedes complimented Kurt's sense of style.

"Don't be ridiculous, Mercedes. It's summer. I won't be wearing sweaters for another month or two!" I said jokingly. Mercedes shook her head and led us into the living room. Puck was standing in the corner alone(odd), Brittany and Santana were dancing together, and Mike and Tina were sitting next to each other on the couch and looked like they were arguing.

"Look who finally showed up!" Mercedes announced. Everyone glanced over at us and then went back to what they were doing. Typical. We get excited to see everyone and none of them care. I swear, sometimes I think I shouldn't have chickened out of going to performing arts school instead of McKinley. But then again, if I had done that, then I wouldn't have met Finn or even my mother since she first saw me performing with New Directions at Sectionals.

Just thinking about my mother made me irritated at my dads again.

"Anyways guys, there's drinks in the kitchen." Mercedes said before walking over to Puck and talking to him. I didn't know what they were talking about but it looked almost like she was comforting him. Kurt's phone then rang and he answered it as he walked away.

"Hey, Rach?" Finn asked to get my attention. "I'm going to go talk to Artie." He said before walking towards Artie who had his wheelchair next to the couch and was watching a baseball game on Quinn's giant plasma screen TV. I had a feeling Finn was more interested in the game than Artie.

However, with him gone I was all alone. There is absolutely nothing good about being alone at a party. So I decided to go into the kitchen to get a drink. I was kind of curious as to what stereotypical rich Christians drink. I suspected I would find some little bottles of fancy Italian soda.

As soon as I entered the kitchen my instincts told me, "Go back! Run!" because sitting at the kitchen counter alone, was Quinn. But she saw me so it was too late.

"uh…hi." I greeted her nervously. I still didn't know where I stood with her.

"Hey." she said without emotion. Her (perfectly dyed) blonde hair had grown out a bit since she had cut it short in New York and it looked like her fashion sense had gone back to dresses and cardigans. We suffered through about thirty seconds of awkward silence before Quinn said,

"Do you want a drink? My mom bought soda and Puck brought wine coolers." she pointed to a cooler on the floor.

"Thanks." I said and dug threw the ice. There was a bunch of different flavors of wine coolers and cans of soda. Against my better judgment, I chose an apple flavored wine cooler.

"So what have you been doing over the summer?" I asked Quinn in an effort to make small talk. She shrugged and said,

"Not much. My mom's been trying to get me involved in more church things but I don't really want to." I could tell she wanted to say more but instead she asked,

"And what have you been doing over the summer?" it was the first time she actually wanted me to say something. There was definitely something different about Quinn. I was about to tell her that I had been trying to get Finn to like Broadway by showing him clips of Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark, but decided against mentioning Finn to her in case it would set her off.

"just stuff." I said vaguely. For what I think was the first time in my life, I wanted to direct the conversation away from me. "So your mom doesn't mind us drinking wine coolers?" I asked. It was a valid question. I'd never formally met Mrs.(was it Ms.?)Fabray formally. I'd only seen her once, talking to Quinn at Regionals over a year ago, but I guessed she wouldn't be ok with her seventeen year old daughter drinking alcohol with eleven of her underage friends.

"Well she doesn't exactly _know_ we're drinking wine coolers." Quinn said as if it were obvious before she took a sip of one she had in front of her on the table. "And besides." she continued. "I won't be getting drunk and she won't find out about this because she won't be home until morning."

I finally figured out what was different with Quinn. She was incredibly calm. She had been practically off the handle in New York and now three months later, she was calm. I wondered if she finally got medicated. This was a little awkward so I decided to make my exit now.

"Well I think I should get back to the party." I said and Quinn nodded. I walked back to the living room where Finn and Artie were yelling at the TV, Mike and Tina were making out, Brittany and Santana were suggestively dancing together(I swear they have a thing for each other), Kurt was yelling into his phone, and Puck was now crying on Mercedes' shoulder. Sam and Lauren were nowhere to be found.

Welcome back to the wonderful world of Glee Club.

_**Shelby**_

With the help of the movers, I had successfully gotten everything I owned into a U-Haul the morning after my show's wrap party. We had lived in a furnished apartment so the only pieces of furniture we were taking with us were Beth's crib and changing table. Beth, being the quiet baby that she is, stayed right at my side, holding my hand the whole time as we watched all of our things being loaded into a truck.

She can't talk yet but she can(very wobbly) walk. She looks nothing like me so everyone assumes she's mine but looks like her dad. That's not true. I only met Beth's birth parents once but from what I can tell, Beth resembles her mother. Only her nose and hair color match her father.

"Ok, Ms. Corcoran. I think that's everything." one of the movers said after he closed the back door of the truck.

"We'll have your stuff in Lima by 9 o'clock tonight." the other assured as he got into the passenger side of the truck. I watched as the two of them drove off. Lima was a little over a nine hour drive from here so we had to get going if I didn't want Beth to stay up too late.

"Come on, sweetheart." I said to Beth in my baby talk voice as I picked her up and brought her over to my rarely used Acura. I hoped Beth would be ok during the car ride. I worried that she would get carsick. But luckily it was still only ten so she would probably fall asleep in the car. She didn't try to resist when I strapped her into her car seat so I took that as a good sign.

It wasn't until we were driving on the freeway that she began to whimper slightly. Beth hates car rides, especially long ones and there's only one thing that makes her feel better.

"Bethie, do you want to listen to music?" as soon as I said that she became quiet. I took that as a yes. I pushed play on my CD player. I had burned a CD of my favorite songs so the song, Seasons Of Love from Rent filled the car. After a few more songs played, Beth had fallen asleep and I decided to think about my life and its constant changes.

A year ago I quit being a Glee Club director to have a family and a normal life, which is what led to me adopting Beth. Two months after that, I moved to New York to once again pursue a career in Broadway but this time in choreography. That led to me working on several shows until April Rhodes hired me. All while I was working I juggled my job with being a single mom. I didn't even think about dating and I would get(if I was lucky) four hours of sleep every night.

And then last month, right after April announced that the show was ending, I decided to move back to Lima. I needed a break. I thought working with Vocal Adrenaline was exhausting but Broadway is worse. Especially when your leading lady is an alcoholic who has trouble with taking direction.

That was when Rachel's dads contacted me about taking care of her for a few months. I was hesitant at first. I was still not ready to have a teenaged daughter, let alone a teenaged daughter _and _a one year old. But then again, I would finally have a chance to truly get to know Rachel. So I accepted. I hoped they would tell her a few months in advance so she would be used to the idea when the time came to move in with me but Leroy and Hiram didn't have the heart to break the news to her until two weeks before. Making things a lot more complicated for me than they had to be.

I continued to think about things like that the entire trip all while listening to music(mostly show tunes). I had made a few stops so by the time we entered the town of Lima, Ohio, it was just past eight at night. The town is small so I found our house easily. It's a pretty three bedroom, two bath that had been foreclosed on so I got it for an amazing price.

"Look at our new home, Beth!" I said to my daughter as I carried her to the front door of the house. The realtor had mailed me the house key a week prior to our move so I unlocked the door and went inside. Unfortunately the house was almost completely empty and the furniture I ordered from Ikea wouldn't be there until morning so Beth would sleep in her crib and I would have to sleep on the floor. But besides that, it looked the same as it had a few weeks earlier when I had flown down to know for sure that I wanted the house.

"Isn't it pretty?" I asked Beth as I carried her around through the empty house. "You're going to like it here." I said to her. As I examined the house, I noticed that all of the walls were painted a dull, off-white color and being me, I decided to change that.

"Tomorrow we're going to start painting the house." I said to Beth. I planned on taking a drive to the hardware store to get some paint, first thing in the morning. I had to make sure everything was done before Rachel moved in.

After I finished checking out the house, the movers arrived with the U-Haul. They helped me bring everything into their designated rooms and then left. Beth and I fell asleep on the floor with the blankets and throw pillows I brought with us shortly after.

**Yeah I know this chapter was a tad boring but it's still building up to the actual story. Rachel will move in with Shelby in the next chapter and that's where the drama starts.**

**Reviews are gratefully accepted. **


	3. Moving In

**Author's note: Ugh, I can't believe I didn't finish this chapter sooner! I blame my procrastination problems. Anyways this is when the drama and hilarity begins to ensue because *cue dramatic music* Rachel's moving in!**

_**Rachel**_

The day had come. I was moving in with my mother. The two weeks since my dads first told me had flew by and now here I sat in the back seat of my dads' Lexus on the way to my mom's house. Apparently she'd been in town for over a week moving into her new house.

"I'm telling you, it won't be that bad." My dad, Hiram said to me as he turned onto a residential street. The houses were smaller than those found on Dudley road but seemed more like they were for families.

"What about my car?" I asked. I had left it in our driveway when my dads insisted they would drive me to my mom's house.

"you can go get it when you get the rest of your things." My dad, Leroy told me. It seemed like they were just making things more difficult by driving me. I sighed and looked out the window to see the neighborhood. I was pretty sure we were fairly close to Mr. Schuester's apartment. I'd only been there a few times but the neighborhood was familiar to me.

"Rachel, we know you aren't happy with us but will you promise us something?" Hiram asked. I crossed my arms and said with thick sarcasm,

"Of course. I'll do whatever you want since you guys have been _soo_ awesome lately." my dads ignored that.

"Please try to stay out of trouble. We realize you're upset with us but we don't want you doing something you'll regret in the future." Hiram said. I rolled my eyes.

"And what kind of stuff would that be?" I asked. I realized I was being bitchy but at the moment I didn't care. Leroy turned his head so he could look me in the eye. Unfortunately for him I had my dark sunglasses on so he didn't know if I was looking him in the eye or not(I actually was but that's beside the point).

"No drinking, no drugs, no kissing, no tattoos, no piercings, _no _ritual animal slaughters of any kind. Oh, God, I'm giving her ideas!" He said in an attempt to be forceful. I laughed hysterically. If they thought that I would actually slaughter an animal in a satanic ritual then they obviously don't know their own daughter. And I'd already done three of the other five things he listed(two if you don't count Vitamin D as a drug).

"Rachel we're serious! I know you hate us at the moment but we are still your parents and you have to listen to what we tell you." Hiram all but shouted. I could tell they were getting mad.

"And you have to do what Shelby tells you as well. You're living with her so you have to follow her rules." Leroy added. I rolled my eyes.

"Why should I? she didn't want to be a mother to me a year ago. Maybe I don't want her to be a mother to me now." I said defiantly. It was true. It seemed as though my mother only wanted to be my mother when it was convenient for her. So what was stopping me from only being a daughter to her when it was convenient for me?

"Rachel Barbra Berry! You _will_ behave yourself while we're gone! If we hear otherwise, we won't pay for your college tuition next year and that means you will not be going to New York!" Hiram yelled. I froze. That was the worst possible threat anyone could give me and my dads knew it. Being stuck in Lima would be absolutely awful. Unlike Quinn, I couldn't stand to have a mediocre life as a housewife or a real estate agent. I would probably end up killing myself.

Just as my dad, Hiram's began to fade back to it's normal color(it had gone red while he was yelling at me), he stopped in front of a pretty, two story yellow house.

"We're here." He announced in a monotone. I stopped myself from making a sarcastic remark like, "Oh really?" or "No this is the Gershwin Theatre." I didn't need to make them madder at me. They would probably send me to a Jewish convent in Israel as punishment or something. So I stayed quiet and got out of the backseat. It was incredibly hot out so stepping out of the air-conditioned car was like going from a refrigerator to an oven. My dads even commented on it when they were getting my stuff out of the trunk. It was only some of my clothes and a few essentials. I would go back to my house for the rest in a few days.

My dad Leroy rolled my biggest suitcase(containing my clothes, hairbrush, toothbrush, and other items) behind him while my dad, Hiram handed me my duffle bag with everything I couldn't live without, like my DVD of Funny Girl and my iPod. I looked into the trunk to see if I was missing anything.

"Rachel!" I heard a familiar voice call happily from the door. I turned towards the house and plastered a smile onto my face. My mother was walking towards us, a brunette toddler in her arms. To say you can tell she's my mother would be an understatement. We look so much alike that I wonder if I got either of my dads DNA."Hi, Mom!" I greeted her happily. It wasn't exactly her fault I was here so I wasn't going to be horrible to her(especially since my dads were still there waiting for my next slip-up to force me to attend Dayton Community College next year instead of Juilliard or Tisch at NYU). I set my duffle bag down on the ground so I could hug her. She moved the girl to one arm so she could hug me with the other.

"Hi guys." she greeted my dads kindly. I had to give her credit, she did a good job hiding her true feelings. Sadly, I didn't inherit that particular trait.

"It's good to see you in person again, Shelby." Leroy said.

"Yeah, how long has it been? Seventeen years?" My mom asked. My dads smiled awkwardly. Their old contract was the reason for it.

"Yes, something like that." Hiram said through his teeth. No matter how much they tried to hide it, it was clear my mom and my dads didn't like each other. My mom didn't like my dads because of their contract that kept her away from me for so long and my dads didn't like my mom because she(kind of) violated that contract. I swear, if Jerry Springer was still on TV, I would sign us up because if we aren't a dysfunctional family, I don't know what is. After a few moments of awkward silence, my dad Leroy looked at his wristwatch and announced,

"Well, we'd better get going. Our plane leaves in a few hours." with that, he hugged me tight. I fought back tears. Even though they were severely damaging my life, I still loved my dads. Leroy let go of me after a few seconds so Hiram could hug me goodbye as well. Leroy handed my mom an envelope.

"Be good." Hiram called as the two of them got back into the car.

"I will." I said as I wiped a single tear from my eye. I felt my mom put her hand on my shoulder as I watched their car disappear in the distance. I took a deep breath before I picked up my duffle bag with one hand and grabbed the handle of my roller suitcase with the other.

_**Shelby**_

I was so happy to see Rachel again. She hadn't changed much since I'd last seen her but I could tell she had matured. Thinking of that was depressing. It made me feel old. After Rachel's dads had left she watched their car drive away with a surprising lack of emotion. What Will had told me about her over a year ago was that she was like me but more fragile. However, at the moment when I expected her to break down sobbing, she instead just picked up her bags and asked,

"So where will I be staying?"

"You have your own room. Right next to mine." I said as I led her into the house. In the time I'd been there I'd managed to unpack almost all of my stuff but a few boxes remained in the living room. The Ikea furniture was all freshly unboxed and in its place. I had to admit, this was the type of house I'd dreamed of having as a little girl. I even had the two daughters I always wanted. The only thing missing was the perfect husband.

I noticed Rachel looking around at everything.

"Do you like it?" I asked. She smiled slightly and nodded. Considering the fact that Rachel is my daughter, she was being incredibly quiet. "There's two bathrooms. One's back there." I told her and pointed to a closed door near the stairs. "and the kitchen is through there." I nodded towards the kitchen, obviously visible from where we stood. Just as Rachel and I had made it up the stairs, Beth began to squirm in my arms. She was getting tired. I was going to put her down for her nap. I turned to the first door to the right of the stairs.

"This is Beth's room." I told Rachel before I opened the door. I had just painted the walls a few days before. It was then that Rachel finally decided to speak up.

"Do you think you used enough pink for her room, mom?" she asked sarcastically. She was referring to the pink walls, crib, and everything else that was pink in Beth's room. Pretty much the only thing that wasn't pink was the grayish carpet.

"She's a one year old little girl, Rachel. There's no such thing as enough pink." I said as I laid Beth down in her crib.

"True." She agreed. "In fact my room looked a lot like this when I was little. Except there were stars all over the walls." she smiled as she remembered her childhood. An odd wave of happy and sad swept over me when Rachel spoke of that part of her life. I was happy because she had a good life, her fathers took care of her, they gave her all the love she could ever want. I was sad because I was never a part of her life, I was merely the woman who carried her for nine months and nothing more. I often wonder if Quinn, Beth's birth mother has the same feelings. Rachel broke my train of thought.

"So are you going to show me my room now?" she asked.

"Yeah." I said. "I have a feeling you'll love it." I added as the two of us left Beth's room. Rachel's room is right across the hall from Beth's. I opened the door to it and let Rachel step in first. I didn't know her favorite color so I chose one of mine to paint the walls. A light mint green. It went well with the hardwood floors(the reason why this was Rachel's room and not Beth's). I'd also furnished Rachel's room with a queen sized, four poster mahogany bed, a matching dresser and desk, and a twenty inch TV mounted on the wall. In an attempt at a bribe I'd also gotten her a top of the line stereo, a keyboard, and an Epiphone EJ-200 acoustic guitar(even though I was pretty sure she didn't play either).

"So what do you think?" I asked after she'd had a moment to see everything. Instead of saying anything she turned around and hugged me tightly. "Can I take that as a yes?" I asked after she let go of me. She nodded before going over to the guitar.

"I don't play." she confessed as she ran her hand over the stings. It was worth a try. My parents were never able to bribe me when I was sixteen so I suppose Rachel isn't any different.

"Thanks." Rachel said after a second. "I always considered learning to play an instrument. It shows that I'm multitalented to casting directors and record companies." I smiled at this. It sounded like something a younger version of me would say.

I offered to help Rachel unpack some of her things. She accepted. I helped with the clothes in her suitcase while she put the things from her duffle bag into designated places. With the two of us working together, we managed to get done in about twenty minutes. After Rachel had put her iPod Touch down on her nightstand she sat on the edge of the bed.

"So what have you been up to all this time?" she asked. I was taken off guard. I thought of one of the many things I'd done in the fourteen months since I'd last seen my daughter.

"I worked on Broadway." I said. It sounded the most exciting. As soon as I said, Broadway, Rachel's eyes lit up.

"Really?" She asked. "What show?" It was the first time I'd seen Rachel so excited. I shrugged.

"I was just a choreographer for a show called, CrossRhodes." I said modestly. Rachel looked surprised.

"With April Rhodes?" she asked. I was a little bit surprised she'd heard of April. One of the reasons why the show wasn't a success(besides it being poorly written and the story being about an alcoholic woman in her late thirties who has slept with God knows how many men) is that April is pretty unknown. Well, not to the police but she's unknown to the general public.

"Uh, yes. How do you know about it?" I asked. Rachel shrugged.

"Well apparently Mr. Schuester went to high school with her so he let her join Glee Club sophomore year. She even tried to take my place." my daughter explained. I was surprised. Once, while April was drunk at a rehearsal, she said I looked like someone she met and then said something about the musical, Cabaret. Now I get that she was talking about Rachel. And from the way Rachel told me how she knew her, I had a feeling she didn't like April very much. I decided to change the subject.

"So after Beth wakes up, do you want to go get a snow cone?" I offered. Rachel's dads had emailed me a list of rules and things that I would need to know about her. One was that she's a vegan so I figured snow cones would be a better summer treat than ice cream for her.

"Snow cones?" Rachel asked in disbelief.

"Yeah." I said. I hoped that it would give me a chance to get to know Rachel a little more and she could get to know, Beth. The three of us needed to be able to get along if we were going to survive half a year together. Just talking about ourselves was step one.

**Author's note: Again I'm sooo sorry this took so long. I've been having writers block. And in case you didn't already know, Rachel's dad's "No Drinking, No drugs,…." line was a direct quote from the 1999 film, 10 Things I Hate About You. If you haven't seen it, go watch it. It's incredibly funny.**

**Reviews are gratefully accepted.**


	4. Genetics are Amazing

**Author's note:**

**Again, I'm sorry this took so long. All I can blame is writers block and being busy. I had no idea my schedule would actually be **_**more**_** packed over the summer(seriously I've had to have family dinners with distant relatives I don't know for like five nights in a row). Anyways, did everyone see the new season three promo? I know it's only thirty seconds long but I still fangirl screamed(even if it includes *gags* Wemma).**

**I don't own Glee(belongs to Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, and Brad Falchuk) or any other pop culture referenced in this story. *cries***

_**Shelby**_

"So what's your new job here?" Rachel asked before drinking what was left of her melted cherry snow cone. "Are you going to be doing more choreographing?" She guessed. I chucked my empty paper cone into the trashcan next to the bench we were sitting on.

"Kind of. I got another teaching gig." I said vaguely. Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"Back at Carmel?" She asked. Before I could answer her question, my phone vibrated. I took it from my pocket and looked at the screen that read, 'New message from Will Schuester'.

"Uh, no. Not at Carmel." I answered Rachel before reading the text.

'Hey beautiful.' It read. I blushed and Rachel looked at me weird. She looked incredibly suspicious and was giving me the same look my mother used to give me whenever I tried to talk about Broadway shows around her. Genetics.

"Who are you texting?" She asked as I typed a reply. I decided against telling her the truth. She was going through enough already. She didn't need to know that I ran into Will at the hardware store, that he helped me pick out the colors to paint the house, or, that we'd been on three dates in the past week.

"My sister." I lied. Rachel didn't seem to buy it.

"You have a sister?" She asked in suspicion. I nodded.

"She's three years younger than me. I also have an older brother." I figured that if Rachel learned she had an aunt and an uncle she would be distracted from her interrogation. She was.

"It's kind of weird not knowing a whole part of my family." Rachel admitted. "What are they like?" She asked just as Will replied to my text. I quickly read his reply before answering,

"Loud." Rachel laughed. "There is no question where you get that from." it was the first time Rachel had shown any signs of happiness since she'd moved in with me a few hours before. It made me feel guilty for texting her _teacher_ about when we should see each other again.

_**Rachel**_

Being around my mother, let alone talking about things that a normal daughter would already know, was nothing short if my expectations. Awkward doesn't even begin to cover it. Though, I was kind of happy to learn of my mother's family. I'm not much like my dads so it's nice to know where I get my mystery traits.

"So you start school in a few days?" My mom asked as she texted her sister back. I wondered what they were talking about but I figured it probably wasn't too interesting.

"Monday." I replied dully. I wasn't quite sure what my feelings were about returning to school in two days. Yes, I would be around my friends in Glee club(at least the ones that weren't holding a grudge against Finn and I for the Nationals incident) and I would be a senior so that was bound to be interesting. But, school has never been my favorite place. I've been bullied since fifth grade for being "weird" and joining Glee club(a.k.a. the most hated club in school for no apparent reason) at the beginning of sophomore year, didn't help that.

"How are Quinn and Noah?" My mom asked and her eyes darted towards Beth in her stroller for a split second.

"Noah, is still Noah." I replied. My mom smiled and shook her head. The first time she'd ever met him was after he and Finn slashed the tires of Vocal Adrenaline's cars so she knew what I meant. "And I guess Quinn is ok." I added. I hadn't seen or heard from Quinn since her party but she had seemed more stable than she'd been in New York or at Prom.

Talking about her parents made me pay attention to Beth(who was squirming in her stroller like she really wanted out). Before today, I'd only seen the picture that Mercedes had taken with her phone right after she was born. In that picture, she didn't have many distinguishing features(She was only twenty minutes old). Now, she looked like a mini Quinn but with brown hair and a different nose. It was slightly unnerving. I expected her to call me "man hands" in a somewhat nasally baby voice at any second.

"So, can she talk?" I asked my mom as I continued to look at Beth. She had been silent the entire time I'd been around her but she could have been capable of saying small words sometimes.

"No. But she can walk." My mom said as she lifted Beth out of the stroller and set her down on her feet gently in the grass. "Can't you, Beth?" my mom asked her in a soft voice before taking her hands off her to show that Beth could stand on her own.

"Wow, the next thing you know she'll be ready for dance classes." I said as Beth took a few slightly wobbly steps towards me. Beth stopped walking right in front of me.

"I think she wants you to pick her up." My mom explained. She was probably right since she had to be accustomed to Beth's actions. I hesitated to pick Beth up though. I had no siblings growing up and I only had two cousins on my dads' sides. Both were at least ten years older than me. Therefore, I'd never been around babies or toddlers so I was a little bit uncomfortable around Beth. Even if she was technically my little sister in some twisted way. But then Beth looked up at me with her big hazel/green eyes. Clearly she inherited her father's charm. I sighed, picked her up and set her on my lap.

"Those eyes are deadly." My mom said after I'd given in to Beth. I nodded in agreement. I noticed an old couple walk past us and give me a disapproving look. It took me a moment to realize that they thought Beth was _my_ baby. I heard Shelby laugh.

"It's not funny." I told her while holding back bursting into laughter myself.

_**Shelby**_

After Rachel and I played with Beth on the playground for a while we went to the mall. I still didn't have all of my appliances (including a coffee maker which is a necessity). Rachel found some dresses at Sears that I thought were kind of strange but she claimed they were her style. I did manage to talk her into getting a black leather jacket that really suited her. Although, I had to admit that it made her look like an adult and not a child which was scary(maybe that's why her dads kept her in animal sweaters).

Later, we agreed on eating dinner at Breadstix. Beth didn't want to leave Rachel's arms when we put her back in her stroller. It surprised me. It was clear that Rachel didn't have much experience with babies, but Beth seemed to really like her. It made me glad that my two daughters didn't hate each other like my sister and I did when we were kids. Though, that's probably because there's a fifteen year age gap between Rachel and Beth while I'm only three years older than my sister.

Breadstix is kind of like Olive Garden except, Olive Garden's breadsticks actually taste good(which makes absolutely no sense). Rachel said she likes Breadstix because they have good vegan pasta and it reminded me of a line in La Vie Boheme from Rent, which led to another conversation about our favorite musicals. Genetics really are fascinating. I swear Rachel is like my teenage clone.

By the time we got back to our new house, it was almost 9 and Beth was falling asleep in my arms.

"I think I'm going to hang out in my room for a while before I go to sleep." Rachel said. I nodded and she went upstairs with her bags of new clothes. Just as I heard the door to her room close, my phone rang. Will's name was on the caller ID.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey. How was your day with Rachel?" He asked. Beth whimpered slightly in a way that said, 'Get me to bed, mother!'

"Different. It's still kind of awkward." I replied as I tried to sooth Beth.

"I know her. She's still getting used to being around you. Let alone having to live with you. But it'll get better." Will explained. I nodded even though I knew he couldn't see me. I heard 'Dance at the Gym' playing in the background.

"Are you watching West Side Story?" I asked. That was one of the many things Will and I had in common. We both could be perfectly happy watching a musical on a Saturday night.

"Yeah." Will admitted with guilt in his voice.

"You suck! We could have watched that together last night!" I jokingly told him. He laughed.

"I'm sorry! We can watch it the next time you're free." He suggested. I sighed dramatically.

"Fine. I'll see you on Monday?" I asked.

"Yeah. What's your room number?" He asked. It took me a second to remember without looking at the email Figgins sent me.

"uh, 216." I told him.

"Awesome! That's right down the hall from me." He said happily.

_**Rachel**_

"I don't know if I'll be able to handle six months of this, Kurt." I said to Kurt over the phone. Shelby had gone to bed an hour ago and I was still wide awake.

"Rachel, you've been wanting to know your mom your entire life. Now's your chance. I would give anything to live with my mom for six months." only Kurt would try to guilt trip me into feeling better. I sighed.

"I know. But the fact that she choose _Quinn Fabray's_ baby over me isn't something I can just forget." I explained. I heard Kurt yawn. "Am I boring you?" I asked.

"No. I'm tired. It's past midnight and I'm trying to get back to my school sleep schedule." Kurt said defensively. I decided I would let him sleep.

"Ok I'll let you go. Goodnight Kurt."

"Goodnight Rachel." He replied before hanging up. I sighed and collapsed onto my bed. Usually I would have been asleep hours before, but I simply couldn't. Shelby was nice and welcoming, but being around her made me incredibly uncomfortable. And Beth was worse. Quinn hadn't even spoken of my mom adopting Beth all junior year until I mentioned her. What would she think of me getting to know her daughter while she only was around her for a few hours? I decided that maybe things would be better in the morning. If I was alone in the house I would burst out into 'Tomorrow' from Annie. But I had to be quiet so I got my headphones and plugged them into my iPod. I put it onto shuffle mode and the beautiful sounds of Patti Lupone's voice filled my ears. I was asleep a few minutes later.

**Author's note: I'll try to finish the next chapter soon. Please review and give any feedback you have. If you have any questions feel free to ask and I'll answer them.**


	5. First Day Of School Part One

**Author's note: **

**Yep, I'm updating less than a week after the last chapter. ****And it's the longest chapter yet! It's a miracle! **

**I have officially started school and in case you wanted to know, it sucks. There's really no glorifying school. I did get into Glee Club though so that's good.**

**Some things mentioned in this chapter are based on spoilers for the third season and what was seen in the new promo. ****For those of you who requested more Finchel, you get a romantic/awkward slushie clean-up moment! And there will be some Shell too!**

**I don't own Glee or any other things referenced in this story *cries***

_**Rachel**_

"Rachel! Are you ready?" my mom's voice called upstairs. I sighed and looked at myself in the bathroom mirror. I was wearing one of my new dresses, a pair of white knee socks, and a black headband held my bangs back. The outfit I'd spent an hour or so picking out the day before. I just hoped I didn't get slushied. It's not like I wasn't used to it(and I'm a pro at getting stains out), I just didn't want my first day of senior year to be ruined by the humiliation of it. "Rachel!" my mom called again. I sighed and yelled back,

"I'm coming!" I went back into my room to get my new backpack before going downstairs. Before I made it to the bottom of the stairs, there was a flash."You've got to be kidding me." I said, slightly annoyed as Shelby prepared to take another picture.

"No I'm not. This is your last first day of school, and the first one I've been here for. Now smile." she directed. I sighed and smiled a less than sincere smile. Shelby took two more pictures.

"Can we go now?" I asked impatiently.

"Not yet. I need a few of you and Beth together. Right on cue, Beth toddled over to me from Shelby's side. She too wore a new outfit for her first day of daycare and Shelby had put her hair into little pigtails. She looked painfully adorable. I picked her up and smiled at Shelby so she could fake the picture. "Beth, honey, smile for Mommy." Shelby directed. Beth must have done so because Shelby took some pictures(me posing a different way each time, of course).

"ok, we can go now." My mom said as she put her camera pack into its pouch. I rolled my eyes and followed my mom out to her car. Mine was still at my dads' house. I planned on having Finn take me there that day to retrieve it. I handed Beth to Shelby so she could put her in her car seat. While Shelby tried to secure her in, Beth kicked and squirmed playfully, making it very hard for my mother to fasten the last buckle. Her behavior reminded me of Noah.

"Elizabeth Bernadette Corcoran, you will be the death of me." Shelby stated after she managed to finish getting Beth into her car seat despite Beth being difficult. Beth didn't seem to mind the grief she caused our mother and continued to smile.

_**Shelby**_

I dropped Beth off at her daycare before driving to McKinley. My youngest child had been especially happy all morning until I had to leave her. Then she got teary-eyed. I knew she wouldn't completely understand me but I said to her,

"I love you. I'll come get you as soon as I get off work." and kissed her forehead before handing her over to the waiting caregiver. Beth had gone to daycare before, but she had been with me for three weeks so she wasn't used to being away from me again. It took all I had to turn away from her and walk back to my car, where Rachel was searching through the radio stations to find a good song. She stopped on the classic rock station when she heard the Police classic, Don't Stand So Close To Me. It looked as though she Was about to burst into fit of laughter.

"What's so funny?" I asked. She shrugged.

"Just something that happened in Sophomore year." she vaguely explained. It seemed as though there was probably an interesting story behind that but I didn't press further. Sometimes teenagers do things that to parents are either, stupid or something they shouldn't know. We were both silent the rest of the way to McKinley. The first time Rachel spoke was when I parked in the staff parking lot.

"Uh, I don't think parents are supposed to park here." She said before getting a mortified look on her face when she put the pieces together. "Oh my god! You teach here?" I sighed. I knew she would take it badly.

"I was going to tell you yesterday but you were at your friend's house-" I began to explain why she was just now learning that I was teaching at her school but Rachel cut me off.

"And you didn't ever think to yourself, 'Oh, maybe it would not only humiliate Rachel if I work at her school but also be slightly inconvenient for her?' because you know that I will _never_ hear the end of this from the Cheerios and jocks." Rachel then got out of the car and slammed the door harder than necessary. I sighed and got out of the car to catch up with her.

"Rachel, wait!" I called as I speed-walked up to her. She crossed her arms across her chest.

"Shelby, I really don't want to hear it." Rachel said coldly. It stung to hear her call me by my first name for the first time since she'd moved in with me.

"I'm sorry, ok? I wanted to move back to Lima and this was the only school hiring." I explained the reason why I'd taken the job to the best of my abilities. "and if it makes you feel better, I'm only teaching 9th and 10th grade biology so unless you're really bad at science, you shouldn't be in my class." I added. She pulled open one of the front doors to the school and began walking down one of the hallways(I stayed close to her).

Rachel was about to say something to me when suddenly a tall boy covered in a blue substance and carrying a gym bag staggered around the corner of the hallway. He looked familiar but I couldn't exactly recognize him.

"Oh my god! Finn!" Rachel cried before running up to him. I knew where I had seen him before now. He was friends with Noah and had helped him slash Vocal Adrenaline's tires. He was also the male lead of New Directions(I still can't get over the fact that Will actually named them that)."Mom, we'll talk later." Rachel said to me before grabbing the boy by the arm and pulling him into a nearby girls bathroom. I assumed it was to get him cleaned up. I just hoped Rachel wasn't late to her first class because of it.

Before I could think about it further, I noticed the time and realized I had to get to my classroom. I shot a glance at the closed bathroom door before going to the stairwell that would almost directly lead me to my room.

_**Rachel**_

"it had to be blue, didn't it?" I asked rhetorically as I ran some warm water into Finn's hair. "Damn puckhead!" Finn said angrily before wincing from the pain of corn syrup and blue dye in his eyes. I sighed and wiped the slush from his face with a wet paper towel. It killed me whenever this happened to him. Unlike me, Finn had never had to endure things like this when he was younger so that made the bullying us Glee kids have to deal with that much harder on him.

"Don't let them get to you, Finn. Ten years from now, you'll be living your dreams while they live in the South Lima trailer park." I said to him in encouragement. Finn doubted my words and shook his head. Before I could object to his actions, the first bell rang.

"You're late to class." Finn pointed out. I nodded.

"So are you." I retorted before taking his wet, stained letterman jacket off. Finn seemed surprised by lack of panic over missing a class.

"Aren't you worried about it affecting your perfect GPA?" He asked. I shook my head. "Why?"

"Well, it's not like you ever learn anything in the classes on the first day, and it wouldn't matter anyways because my first class is German." I explained in detail. Finn raised an eyebrow.

"Why don't you care about missing German?" Finn asked. Before I could stop myself I answered him,

"Da bin ich schon fließend in der Sprache, meine Liebe." Finn's eyes widened.

"That was awesome!" he cried. I laughed and got another paper towel to dry him off. "But what does it mean?" he asked. I wiped at his forehead.

"I just told you that I can already speak the language." I loosely translated. He nodded. I'd already gotten most of the slushie off of him but his shirt and jacket were still covered in the stuff. "Do you have a spare shirt on your bag?" I asked as I looked over at Finn's football bag on the floor. He nodded again before putting his head back under the stream of water to help the burning in his eyes. I dug through his football equipment in his bag until I found his grey workout shirt.

When I stood back up, Finn was standing and shirtless. Unlike Puck, who could stand in front of someone completely naked and be nonchalant about it, Finn looked incredibly embarrassed. I had no idea why. Apparently he'd been working out since the Rocky Horror Hallway Incident because he was not "flabby" like Santana claimed. Sure he didn't look like Sam, but he definitely had some abs.

"Uh, if I put my shirt on now, I'll be all sticky." Finn stated. I found my mind screaming at me, _THINK PURE THOUGHTS!_

"Um, yeah…you should probably wipe yourself off." I said nervously and tossed him the wet paper towel. He then began to rub at his chest with the towel. I was apparently caught in the sexyness of it because Finn broke my thoughts with.

"Uh, Rachel?" I snapped out of my trance.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" I asked him in confusion.

"I was asking how living with your mom's going." Finn repeated himself.

"Horribly." I replied. "She's working here!" Finn looked surprised.

"Oh, so that's why she was with you?" he asked. I nodded. "Well it probably won't be too bad. I mean, Mr. Schue's like a dad to me and it isn't bad having him as a teacher." He added optimistically before throwing the paper towel into the garbage and extending his arm towards me. I tossed him his shirt and said,

"Well, you don't live with Mr. Schue." Finn pulled the shirt on. "This could absolutely ruin my reputation and make school hell for me." I added.

"We're in Glee Club. Our reputations were ruined a while ago." Finn reasoned while fixing his hair into its traditional style with his fingers. "And besides, if anyone tries to mess with you, they'll have to deal with me." I blushed. Before I knew it was happening, Finn leaned down and kissed me lightly on the lips. "Thanks for missing first period to help me clean up." he whispered into my ear.

"Any time." I said back to him as the two of us left the bathroom together.

_**Shelby**_

By the time the bell for lunch rang, I was more than ready for a break. It had been a few years since I'd taught and actual class(being the coach of Vocal Adrenaline was my only job at Carmel) but nothing had changed. Teenagers simply don't care about school on the first day. For them, it's all about seeing their friends and being depressed because summer's over. Therefore, they never really listen when teachers talk about their kids or what they'll be teaching for the next nine months. So basically, after repeating an hour long speech three times, to three classes who don't give a damn, it nice to talk to adults.

By the time I got to the teacher's lounge, Will was already sitting at one of the tables with a redhead with big eyes and a soft voice. Due to my nature, I instantly became jealous.

"Hi, Will." I greeted him as I sat next to him. He smiled at me.

"Hey, Shelby. We were just talking about you." Will said. "Emma, this is Shelby Corcoran. Shelby, this is Emma Pillsbury. She's the school's guidance counselor." Will introduced the redhead(named Emma) and I.

"It's nice to meet you." I said to her politely as I unpacked my lunch from its paper bag. Emma opened a small Tupperware container full of grapes.

"Yes, it's nice to meet you too." She replied. I could detect some animosity in her tone. Will could detect the awkwardness between us and broke in.

"So how was your classes, Shelby?" he asked as he too unpacked his lunch.

"Pretty much what was to be expected on the first day of school." I replied before opening my can of diet soda and taking a drink. Will nodded.

"Yeah, pretty much the same with mine. Luckily, I'm sure the Glee club will be a bit more enthusiastic about the new school year. You can join us this afternoon if you want, Shelby." Will offered.

"I would, but Rachel's not too happy with me right now so I think it would be best if I give her some space." I politely declined Will's offer. He nodded in agreement. Even though I'm her mother, Rachel has been around Will more so he knows her better. "And besides, I have to work on drama club preparation." I added.

"I wasn't aware the school had a drama club." Emma stated.

"It didn't. But Figgins decided that expanding the arts programs could get the school more academic funding." I explained to Emma(Will already knew this). While I was explaining the reasons for the revival of the drama club, a tall woman with short blonde hair and wearing a blue tracksuit sat at the table next to us. When Will saw her, he groaned in annoyance.

"Good God, the school has another bleeding heart, arts freak." The woman said angrily. I knew she was talking about me.

"Sue, what is your problem? Your Cheerios budget wasn't even affected this year!" Will said to her. The woman must have been Sue Sylvester, the woman Will had told me hilarious stories about.

"My problem, William, is that the more of you there are, the more singing metrosexuals this school will produce!" Sue all but screamed before standing up again and storming out of the teachers lounge. There was a few minutes of awkward silence before I broke it with,

"So is she an angry person or simply insane?" Both Emma and Will laughed.

"My guess is insane." Emma said. "You should've seen what she did to Figgins' office after he refused to let her shoot one of the cheerleaders out of a cannon." She added. My eyes widened.

"A cannon?" I asked in disbelief. They both nodded. Emma then looked at her watch.

"Sorry, I have to leave now. I have to finish some things with a boy who's transferring next week." Emma explained as she packed her lunch back into its bag.

"Ok. See you later, Emma." Will said to her. She smiled at him before leaving Will and I alone. In a way I was glad. For some reason, Emma didn't really like me, and besides, it gave me a chance to actually talk to Will.

"So Rachel doesn't like that we're dating?" Will asked before biting into a green apple. I got a guilty look on my face.

"Uh, she doesn't exactly know about that yet. She's mad about me working here." Will sighed.

"Shelby, you said you would tell her."

"I know. But she's taking living with me worse than I thought and I figured she shouldn't have to deal with everything at once." explained to him.

"So when are you planning on telling her?" He asked.

"I don't know yet. But when the time is right, I will." I said. He smiled and put his hand over mine.

"And are we still on for dinner, Wednesday?" he asked.

"Well, you aren't married, dating someone else, or both, are you?" I asked. Will smiled and shook his head. "Then absolutely."

**Author's note:**

**For those of you who want to know, the correct English translation to what Rachel said to Finn in German was, "Since I'm already fluent in the language, my love."**

**I'm planning on having the drama club(with Glee kids in it of course) perform a musical. I already have one in mind(and it's a secret so don't ask what it is) but I'd like to hear some suggestions from you guys.**

**Reviews are gratefully accepted and feel free to ask any questions you have about the story. I'll get back to you as soon as possible with answers.**


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